Kapu stir: Man kills himself over quota

Amid demand for reservation for Kapus, C.H.V. Murthy (45) hung himself from a dish antenna at Bennet Club in the collectorate.

“A letter was found in his pocket which said he is ending his life for non-inclusion of Kapu community in Backward Classes list, as also Central government not according special category status to Andhra Pradesh”, police inspector (Special Branch), Kakinada, V. Srinivas, told PTI.

Murthy belonged to Kapu community but had no “political background”, he said, adding, he was a TV mechanic by profession and a resident of Kakinada.

His suicide comes a day after violence broke out in Tuni in East Godavari district where a public meeting was organised to demand reservation for the community.The meeting, “Kapu Aikya Garjana”, was convened by Mr Padmanabham.

After the meeting, thousands of protesters blocked rail and road traffic, torched a train and a police station, besides targeting a number of vehicles.

At least 15 policemen were injured in the violence. Meanwhile, BJP leaders in Andhra supported the demand of Kapus and appealed to community members to maintain peace.

Addressing a press conference in Vijayawada, endowment minister P. Manikyala Rao of BJP, state party unit president K. Hari Babu and MLC S Veerraju asked Kapu leaders to ensure anti -social elements do not mingle with community members and create law and order problem.

CPI state secretary K. Ramakrishna said the TDP government’s failure to act on its pre-poll promise of providing quota to Kapus led to the stir.

In a release here, he requested the Commission to submit its report as early as possible so that the Kapu reservation issue is settled. He appealed to political parties to not to use the Kapu community for political gains.

Speaking in Kakinada, agitation leader Padmanabham blamed the TDP-led government for the violence at Tuni.The violence was orchestrated by TDP leaders to defame Kapus and their agitation for reservation, he claimed.